Plastic SLRs

[cooltouch]

My favorite plastic camera these days is the Nikon N80 (F80 in Europe and elsewhere?). It is very lightweight, crammed chockfull of features, and very quiet -- almost as quiet as a good DSLR, and that includes the film advance noise.

I bought the MB-16 battery extension grip for mine. This converts the camera from using the somewhat obscure CR123 batteries to 4 "AA" batteries. Plus the grip gives a little over one inch in extension, which I appreciate, having largish hands.

The N80 can be found cheap. I bought mine for $40 and just earlier today sold another one in very nice condition on eBay for $36. I think this camera is, without a doubt, one of the best deals out there right now.

Currently I have a 28-105 D lens mounted on the camera. It makes for a great little walking around combo.

 

[Paul Howell]

I just got a Minolta 800si with the battery grip. I have not found the manual on line, a few sites may have it for a download fee, what I know so far is that it heavy, has the most powerful built in flash of any AF film camera, menu driven and have not figured out all the commands. I have a few of the cards for the SI cameras, need to pick up one for auto bracket and sports.

 

[Paul Howell]

Just found the manual, no cards, just need to remember all the menu to change functions, need to take it out for a spin.

 

[tom43]

+1 for the Nikon F80 / N80. Full functionality with new Nikon lenses, good autofocus, large but a little dark viewfinder. Takes perfect pictures with slide film. Alternative, if you need a smaller variant, would be a F75. Or a a more expensive F100, which I would definitely not call a plastic camera....

 

[tokam]

I just got a Minolta 800si with the battery grip.

Hi Paul, I have the 807si which appears to be the Japanese domestic market version of your 800si. The battery grip is useful as it allows you to use AA batteries instead of the expensive 2CR5? lithium batteries. It adds extra weight but I think it improves the balance of the camera, especially with heavier lenses.

The 807si has a curious feature - you can turn a switch which masks off part of the film gate to shoot 'panoramic' negs. I haven't measured it but It appears to mask about 3mm top and bottom of the negs giving an image around 18mm x 36 mm. Don't think I'll ever use the facility but I accidentally set it on and, of course, the viewfinder image is also masked to panoramic. Took a bit of manual searching to figure out what was going on.

The built-in flash is a grunty unit for sure. If you can find them at the right price the HS 5400/5600 flashes are a great complement to the camera including features such as off-camera wireless TTL exposure control. I haven't had a good play with mine yet as I'm mainly a Canon FD shooter; even the Canon T90 is a simple camera to operate by comparison.

 

[AgX]

The 807si has a curious feature - you can turn a switch which masks off part of the film gate to shoot 'panoramic' negs. I haven't measured it but It appears to mask about 3mm top and bottom of the negs giving an image around 18mm x 36 mm.

Not that curious when having in mind that such is standard with APS cameras. And I am quite sure I got a cheap 35mm camera where such automated feature (switching formats by lever) exists too.

 

[Paul Howell]

Hi Paul, I have the 807si which appears to be the Japanese domestic market version of your 800si. The battery grip is useful as it allows you to use AA batteries instead of the expensive 2CR5? lithium batteries. It adds extra weight but I think it improves the balance of the camera, especially with heavier lenses.

The 807si has a curious feature - you can turn a switch which masks off part of the film gate to shoot 'panoramic' negs. I haven't measured it but It appears to mask about 3mm top and bottom of the negs giving an image around 18mm x 36 mm. Don't think I'll ever use the facility but I accidentally set it on and, of course, the viewfinder image is also masked to panoramic. Took a bit of manual searching to figure out what was going on.

The built-in flash is a grunty unit for sure. If you can find them at the right price the HS 5400/5600 flashes are a great complement to the camera including features such as off-camera wireless TTL exposure control. I haven't had a good play with mine yet as I'm mainly a Canon FD shooter; even the Canon T90 is a simple camera to operate by comparison.

I read about the Panormic feature but not have tired it. Your right it is a complicated camera, I have the 600si classic which has dials as opposed to menu driven and the Minolta 9 which also simpler to use. I have a couple of Minolta flashes, sometime in a hurry it is nice just to pop up the flash for fill in. So far I have found that for me I like the 9000 with motor drive for sports, the 600si classic for travel and 9 for nature and wildlife, I think the 800 will be my second body.

 

[gary in nj]

+1 for the Nikon F80 / N80. Full functionality with new Nikon lenses, good autofocus, large but a little dark viewfinder. Takes perfect pictures with slide film. Alternative, if you need a smaller variant, would be a F75. Or a a more expensive F100, which I would definitely not call a plastic camera....

When you say "new Nikon" lenses, which models? I have a half dozen lenes for my D5500 that I'd love to use on a film camera. If the F80 is compatible with these (DX) lenses I'll be scouring ebay for the next few weeks.

 

[Meyer Trioplan]

Am I the only one left using the Nikon F65? I like them enough that I now have two of them. Bought my first one with the crappy 28-80 lens in, as I recall, 2006, with the MB17 motor drive, for a whopping A$100 (I know, I know, but hey, this is Australia, land of nothing cheap!). Six years later I snagged a second with data back and the same 28-80 on Ebay for A$50. The zooms were traded off a few years ago, oddly for more than I paid for the cameras, as part of an expensive MF purchase deal.

Get them now while they are at their cheapest. Young photographers are rediscovering them, and the good deals won't last...

You're not alone, I managed to snag one off a classified for $20 with the 35-70 f/2.8 lens. The lens was the main draw, but I shot one roll in there and look forward to shooting another. It's a very likable camera though I don't like the lack of metering with AI lenses.

Lately though I've been in love with my Maxxum 5 from 2001. Light weight but with some excellent features in a very usable package, and readily available for under $20. Decent Minolta-made glass is a lot cheaper than that from Nikon as well.

 

[locutus]

When you say "new Nikon" lenses, which models? I have a half dozen lenes for my D5500 that I'd love to use on a film camera. If the F80 is compatible with these (DX) lenses I'll be scouring ebay for the next few weeks.

If your lenses are marked as 'Dx' they will not cover 35mm film, other Nikon autofocus lenses should work as is (except for some very very new 'E' electronic aperture lenses)

 

[Helios 1984]

I'd recommend a Canon EOS Elan 7N/EOS 33V.
Modern AF, fully featured, fairly compact and light.
Of course, I happen to have an extra one ....

I have a crush on the black/silver Elan IIe/EOS 55 ^.^

 

[Meyer Trioplan]

I have a crush on the black/silver Elan IIe/EOS 55 ^.^

The IIe is a fun camera and quite a capable body. I got one in '96 and got a replacement last year. It's only hiccup is a spotty LCD panel on top.

I love the Eye Controlled focusing, but can't really afford much beyond the kit lens realm of Canon glass.

 

[blockend]

Good to see this thread revived. I shot my F60s all last summer and hope to do a repeat this year. Put a bunch of books together from the output, too.

 

[destroya]

the n80 shoots G lenses so thats a big plus. i keep buying them for some reason. wind up giving them to my kids or leaving them at the beach house. hard to pass up at $20 for like new in the box. have bought 8 over the last 3 years and all work great. i never use the battery pack as for me it defeats the purpose of the small size. i also buy 123 batteries in bulk for my pentax 67ii and fuji 645zi so its not an issue to find the obscure size. use it with the little 50mm 1.8d lens and you have a great light sharp modern film package for less than $80. bargin

 

[Helios 1984]

The IIe is a fun camera and quite a capable body. I got one in '96 and got a replacement last year. It's only hiccup is a spotty LCD panel on top.

I love the Eye Controlled focusing, but can't really afford much beyond the kit lens realm of Canon glass.

I bid on an Elan IIe on the bay All this electronic will bring me in modern film days (I'm currently shooting with a Praktica L-2), it should be fun to use with my only canon lens (Plastic Fantastic).

 

[cooltouch]

I bid on an Elan IIe on the bay All this electronic will bring me in modern film days (I'm currently shooting with a Praktica L-2), it should be fun to use with my only canon lens (Plastic Fantastic).

Several years ago I replaced an original Rebel with a IIe and I've quite enjoyed it. It's a helluva camera chock-a-block ful of features and controls. Hopefully you got the owners manual with yours. If not, you'll want to visit Mike Butkus's site and d/l a copy. I have a few old Canon EF lenses I use with mine -- a 28-85, 70-210, and 75-300. The 75-300 usually gets crummy reviews, but I've found mine to be very sharp, even at 300mm. The lens I use the most, though, is a Tamron 24-70 Aspherical. I bought it new in 1994 for my dearly departed old Rebel. Great lens. You can occasionally find them on eBay in EOS mount for cheap.

the n80 shoots G lenses so thats a big plus. i keep buying them for some reason. wind up giving them to my kids or leaving them at the beach house. hard to pass up at $20 for like new in the box. have bought 8 over the last 3 years and all work great. i never use the battery pack as for me it defeats the purpose of the small size. i also buy 123 batteries in bulk for my pentax 67ii and fuji 645zi so its not an issue to find the obscure size. use it with the little 50mm 1.8d lens and you have a great light sharp modern film package for less than $80. bargin

I'd read that the N80 can use G lenses, but I've never tried buying any. I prefer the "D" lenses. They're usually cheaper than "G" lenses, plus I can use them on manual focus Nikons as well. I find their focusing collars, while smaller than their MF counterparts, are still wide enough to get a decent grip, plus they are well-damped, responding the way MF lenses do. I too bought a small supply of CR123s online after almost fainting at the prices at Walgreens -- $12 each! I'd paid only $40 for the camera! And since the N80 is the only camera I own that takes CR123s, I decided to look for an MB16, which I was successful in finding. It was attached to another N80, which I bought for about what N80s sell for, so when I sold this new-to-me N80, I wound up with the MB16 for free. I love it when I can pull off deals like that. The added weight of the MB16 is negligible and I don't mind the slight increase in size. Call me an atavistic anachronism (with iconoclastic tendencies), but I actually prefer large cameras, and its okay even if they're a bit on the heavy side. It's the way I learned how to shoot, lugging around the heavy stuff. And even though I'm older and can appreciate the lighter things (like an N80), I still don't mind lugging around the heavy stuff (like my Pentax 67 or my Canon F-1s or Nikon F2s with motor drives attached) on occasion. I prefer it when it's in a case with rolling wheels on the bottom, however.

 

[Helios 1984]

Several years ago I replaced an original Rebel with a IIe and I've quite enjoyed it. It's a helluva camera chock-a-block ful of features and controls. Hopefully you got the owners manual with yours. If not, you'll want to visit Mike Butkus's site and d/l a copy. I have a few old Canon EF lenses I use with mine -- a 28-85, 70-210, and 75-300. The 75-300 usually gets crummy reviews, but I've found mine to be very sharp, even at 300mm. The lens I use the most, though, is a Tamron 24-70 Aspherical. I bought it new in 1994 for my dearly departed old Rebel. Great lens. You can occasionally find them on eBay in EOS mount for cheap.

The camera come with a 28-80 USM III but I will probably sell it and just stick with my old 50 1.8.
I noticed that a lot of these cameras have a broken latch and some folks recommend to install the battery grip as a way to avoid this?

 

[mynewcolour]

OM-2000 and other plastic OEM Cosinas are oddly appealing. After all, it's the same shutter as in Bessa, and rest of the camera ain't bad either. If they weren't badged as Nikons, Olympuses etc, they might be more popular.

I had an OM2000 alongside some single-digit OMs. At the time I was moving over from Pentax and not entirely comfortable with the unconventional layout of the OM series. The 2000 is completely conventional and so easy to use you just forget it's there.

Ultimately though, it felt less durable than an OM1 and those metering LEDs are a bit naff.

I miss the double exposure button. That was cool.

 

[cooltouch]

The camera come with a 28-80 USM III but I will probably sell it and just stick with my old 50 1.8.
I noticed that a lot of these cameras have a broken latch and some folks recommend to install the battery grip as a way to avoid this?

I should add a correction to my previous post. I should have written 28-80, not 28-85. BTW, I had two of them for a while (also IIIs) and I noticed that one of them was noticeably less sharp than the other. I sold it. So there was some variability to those lenses that Canon was producing back then.

I have the Canon Battery Pack BP 50 mounted to my IIe. It powers the camera with 4 "AA" batteries and adds only a slight amount of weight to the camera, imo. I find its slight extension to the grip adds to the comfort and its vertical shutter release is very handy. But I can't see how, in any way, it would affect the operation of the back. It remains well clear of it and doesn't interface with it at all.

 

[Helios 1984]

I should add a correction to my previous post. I should have written 28-80, not 28-85. BTW, I had two of them for a while (also IIIs) and I noticed that one of them was noticeably less sharp than the other. I sold it. So there was some variability to those lenses that Canon was producing back then.

I have the Canon Battery Pack BP 50 mounted to my IIe. It powers the camera with 4 "AA" batteries and adds only a slight amount of weight to the camera, imo. I find its slight extension to the grip adds to the comfort and its vertical shutter release is very handy. But I can't see how, in any way, it would affect the operation of the back. It remains well clear of it and doesn't interface with it at all.

And you are right, there is none, I mismatched 2 answers for 2 different problems. loll

I guess sometimes the doors get stuck on the latch instead of sliding in and that some folks use brute force instead of sliding down the release.
It break because it's made of plastic, end of story.

Note: I found the manual on Canon USA.

Photo source: Photo.net

 

[Helios 1984]

I did not win the Elan IIe... however I bought a nice EOS 30 (Euro Elan 7e) for the same price. I wanted the Elan II because I really like the silver look but for the same price I could not say no to more options.

 

[Sewin]

Resurrecting this thread, just picked one of these up in posh black for less than £20.00

 

[cooltouch]

Very nice. Has the body gotten sticky yet?

 

[colin wells]

I just got a Minolta 800si with the battery grip. I have not found the manual on line, a few sites may have it for a download fee, what I know so far is that it heavy, has the most powerful built in flash of any AF film camera, menu driven and have not figured out all the commands. I have a few of the cards for the SI cameras, need to pick up one for auto bracket and sports.

Hi you will find a manual for the 800si www.manualslib.com you really need one to understand and get the most from this great camera

 

[AgX]

Within the Canon FD-range the only plastic camera is the T60.

I you are into the FD family and would like to add a lightweigt, no-frills body, then it would be the nicely designed T60.